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The World Game continues with the column designed to get to the heart of the Asian Cup, or, failing that, any other part of its anatomy that we can reach. Throughout this festival of international football we’ll feature the good, the bad and the ugly – and the occasional interesting tweet.

Let’s be serious – there can be no excuse for the Socceroos not beating UAE in their AFC Cup semi-final on Tuesday night.

UAE shouldn’t even be there. Japan should be, but the defending champion blew it in its quarter-final against UAE and the opposition took advantage.

After the group stage of the tournament was completed, ACRO tipped Japan to go on and win it from there. It wasn’t rocket science – the Japanese looked the best team.

But, at the same time, ACRO pointed out Japan had an issue with its accuracy when shooting, saying: “That is the main thing that stands in the way of the Japanese team taking the title – it is not the greatest finisher.”

Japan got even worse in front of goal against UAE. Even as flat as Japan strangely looked in general play for much of the match, it still should have won it in normal time.

UAE took the lead in the seventh minute and Japan didn’t equalise until the 81st. Japan could have still easily won the game late in normal time, but wasted a couple of the best chances it had all night.

The 30 minutes of extra-time went scoreless and UAE advanced by winning a penalty shootout. It said it all about Japan that it was finally eliminated as a result of not being good enough in that most basic of one-on-one situations.

Statistics taken from the official AFC Asian Cup website show Japan had 35 shots at goal in the match, eight of which were on target and 12 were blocked. UAE had three shots – two on target and one blocked. Yet the two teams came up with the same number of goals.

Japan had a shot accuracy percentage (excluding blocked shots) of 34.8 per cent, as opposed to UAE’s 100 per cent.
That’s football. It’s all about taking chances and if you don’t take your chances you’ve got no-one to blame but yourself for the result.

The Socceroos are the hot favourites now – not just to win this match, but the tournament.

They are a better team than UAE. They will create more chances and take more shots at goal than the opposition. It’s whether they can capitalise on opportunities and take control of the game that is the question.

If they don’t, they risk going the same way as Japan.

sound:theworldgame.sbs.com.au

The East Asian nation took the lead 20 minutes into the match through Lee Jung-hyub before Kim Young-gwon doubled the total shortly after half-time.

Goals from Lee Jung-hyub and Kim Young-gwon secured South Korea’s first Asian Cup final appearance since 1988 with a 2-0 victory against Iraq.

Uli Stielike’s side were comfortable in Sydney on Monday, with a goal in each half wrapping up a deserved win.

After a dominant opening Lee was on hand to break the deadlock in the 20th minute with his second goal of the tournament.

Kim Young-gwon extended South Korea’s lead early in the second half as a deflected strike beat Jalal Hassan Hachim and Iraq needed their goalkeeper to keep them in the game with saves from Ki Sung-yong and Son Heung-min.

Iraq slowly began to force their way back into the game as South Korea’s nervous defending presented openings, but they were unable to convert, with Younis Mahmood guilty of missing the best of the chances.

The victory exacts some revenge for South Korea having lost the 2007 semi-final to Iraq on penalties and they will now wait to see whether it will be host nation Australia or United Arab Emirates who they face in Saturday’s final.

South Korea made a positive start to the match in a rain-sodden Sydney and could have taken the lead inside five minutes as Han Gyo-won peeled away from Dhurgham Ismail, but failed to connect with Ki’s lofted pass.

Iraq’s early openings were restricted to fruitless counter-attacks, but they nearly got caught out after 19 minutes as the dangerous Son broke forward.

With the defenders backing off he unleashed a powerful effort from 20 yards that Hachim was able to tip over the crossbar.

A minute later he was beaten, though, as Kim Jin-su delivered an inviting free kick into the penalty area that Lee glanced past Hachim from close range.

As half-time approached Iraq began to find their footing in the game while South Korea appeared to lose their way and Amjad Kalaf nearly punished them with a 20-yard drive.

The midfielder found space on the edge of the penalty area, but Kim Jin-hyeon was able to get down well and push his effort wide.

Refreshed from the break South Korea resumed their attacking football and five minutes into the second half Kim Young-gwon doubled their advantage. Lee superbly chested a high ball into the defender’s path and he produced a controlled volley that deflected off Salam Shakir on its way past Hachim.

The Iraq goal was leading a charmed life as South Korea began to pepper it with chances, both Ki and Son unable to beat Hachim with efforts from outside the penalty area.

They did not have it all their own way, though, as Iraq – whose place in the semi-final was only confirmed after an appeal from Iran over an ineligible player in the quarters was rejected – finally began to threaten.

Kalaf took too long when presented with their first opening, before Mahmood had two efforts to halve the deficit blocked by resolute South Korean defending.

In the closing minutes chances continued to fall Iraq’s way, but, try as they might, a goal did not arrive and South Korea moved a step closer to ending their 55-year wait for an Asian Cup triumph.

source:goal.com

Ange Postecoglou reckons the Socceroos were running on empty when he took over as coach.

But after 14 months of refuelling, Postecoglou now says he can take them for “a decent drive” – regardless of whether the trip includes an Asian Cup final.

“We can safely say we can go for a decent drive now. There’s plenty of fuel there,” Postecoglou said.

“How far? I’m not really sure. But we’re definitely heading in the right direction.”

Postecoglou’s 14-month journey as Australian coach continues on Tuesday with an Asian Cup semi-final against the United Arab Emirates in Newcastle.

He hit bumps along the way – critics circled after two wins from his initial dozen games – but Postecoglou never deviated.

“That is what annoys me more than anything else, that people actually think that I feel under pressure or my job is on the line,” he said.

“If it was job security I was after, I wouldn’t have taken the job.

“I was pretty settled at (Melbourne) Victory, I was pretty settled at Brisbane Roar and could have had a contract for life.”

Postecoglou’s map had no short-cuts. He was steadfastly on a road to regenerate, create deeper playing depth, and implement an attacking style.

He gets annoyed when pundits couldn’t realise some short-term pain was needed for long-term gain.

“I can’t understand the misunderstanding because everyone has been pretty clear on what we have been trying to achieve,” he said.

“I think it has been outstanding, what we’ve achieved over the past 14 months from where we were.

“The timing of what we did 14 months ago wasn’t great because, yes, we wanted to regenerate and rejuvenate and play a different style of football – but we had two of the biggest tournaments on our calendar inside 12 months.

“That is a little bit unfair on the players coming in, knowing who they had to replace, as a group.

“People want to say that everything we have done over the last 14 months hinged on 90 minutes. I think they would be ignoring the fact that some of our players are growing enormously through this period.”

Postecoglou also admitted “shaking my head” at talk the Socceroos needed to avoid favourite and defending champion Japan until the Asian Cup final.

The Blue Samurai were shock quarter-final losers to the UAE, while Asia’s top-ranked nation Iran also stumbled at the quarter-final hurdle.

“I haven’t seen a major tournament where the tournament goes to script,” Postecoglou said.

“I knew that there was no chance in hell that the four semi-finalists were going to be the four World Cup teams (from Asia), not a chance in hell, because that is not how tournament football works.

“We haven’t looked past our next opponent. If people were assuming we were preparing to meet a certain team in the final, they have missed the point of what we have been doing.

“We didn’t want to be the ones who missed out on a semi-final because we were thinking so far ahead.”

source:sbs.com.au

Nick Kyrgios smashes his racquet in frustration during his match against Italian Andreas Seppi. Photo: Joe Armao

Nick Kyrgios’ coach Todd Larkham has urged him to maintain the rage in Tuesday night’s centre court blockbuster with Andy Murray, crediting his second set dummy spit against Andreas Seppi for helping keep his Australian Open dream alive.

The Canberra 19-year-old threw his racquet to the court in disgust after dropping the first two sets against Seppi, before coming back to beat the Italian in a five-set fourth-round thriller.

Kyrgios admitted after the match he was still learning how best to harness his emotions. His attitude is polarising public opinion after he also raised his voice to ball kids and umpires, and yelled at a member of his entourage to “get off your f—ing phone” during the fourth set.

But Larkham has no plans to read the riot act to Kyrgios, who became the first player since Roger Federer in 2001 to reach two grand slam quarter-finals before his 20th birthday.

Larkham insisted releasing the tension helped Kyrgios focus on the task at hand against Seppi, and believes it would be detrimental to his performance if he bottled it up.

“It’s just part of how he has to find the right frame of mind to play well, sometimes he needs to get his anger out,” Larkham said.

“I think once he did that last night, after he broke the racquet, he didn’t get another warning and he played much better.

“It’s a lot of pressure out there, he really wanted to win and found himself down two sets.

“I thought it was a good thing he got rid of his anger, reset himself and started again. After that he was more composed, more positive

“It doesn’t work all the time, but this match I think it worked in his favour.”

“I haven’t talked to him about it because he knows I don’t worry about it too much.”

Kyrgios will play on centre court for the first time this week against world no.6 Murray. He proved he relishes the big stage by shocking Rafael Nadal in the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

Larkham admitted Kyrgios caught Nadal off guard and believes that result only makes it tougher for Kyrgios to topple Murray, who will come ready for a fight.

Murray also isn’t coming in blind like Nadal, as he beat Kyrgios convincingly in straight sets at Toronto last year.

“He caught Nadal by surprise a bit; the guy’s never seen him in his life and he’s come out smashing bombs,” Larkham said.

“Murray will know exactly what to expect, which does make it a bit more difficult.

But Larkham is convinced Kyrgios can pull off another boilover, pointing to his recent close tussle with Murray at the International Premier Tennis League as a confidence booster.

“In the IPTL Murray beat him 7-6 and he’ll draw on that one, knowing they were both playing full on and he was right there with him,” Larkham said.

Larkham will urge Kyrgios to be ultra-aggressive and mix up his game even more to keep Murray guessing, as Murray has already dubbed Kyrgios “unpredictable”.

“He’s going to have to find ways of winning points, other than just from the baseline,” Larkham said.

“He’ll have to get creative a bit, move him around, change the pace and come to the net.

“In saying that it’s up to Murray to think about what he has to do as well, it works both ways now.

“Murray’s going to have to play a hell of a match to win, I think. Nick’s going to be out there and bombing serves, all the pressure’s going to be on Murray.”

Larkham said Kyrgios’ success has increased their hopes of a seeding at the French Open and Wimbledon, and will give him direct entry into the rich Masters tournaments.

“It changes it because we’re really pushing for a seeding at Paris and Wimbledon now,” he said.

“He’s going to be [ranked] 36 and we only have to get to 32.

“He doesn’t have to qualify for five Masters series tournaments before Paris now, it makes things a lot easier.”

Kyrgios will rise to a career high of about 36th in the world rankings and pocket $340,000 prizemoney even if he loses to Murray.

“It’s hard to contemplate, isn’t it: a 19-year-old to be earning that kind of money,” Larkham said.

Larkham admitted he couldn’t take any credit for Kyrgio’s rare knack of improving his play in the big pressure moments.

“It’s hard to put a finger on why he can do that; I certainly haven’t coached him to be able to do that,” Larkham said.

“He’s shown since he was 10 years old the rare ability to hit big serves or come up with unbelievable shots at the big moment.

“It’s an amazing quality he has, it’s something within him that you can’t teach.”

source:smh.com.au

Η Γιουβέντους συνέχισε την ακάθεκτη πορεία της για την κατάκτηση και του φετινού ιταλικού πρωταθλήματος, επικρατώντας στο Τορίνο της Κιέβο με 2-0 χάρις στα τέρματα των Πογκμπά και Λιχστάινερ. Η «βέκια σινιόρα» αύξησε τη διαφορά από τη δεύτερη Ρόμα στους επτά βαθμούς, καθώς οι «τζαλορόσι» έμειναν στο 1-1 στο «Αρτέμιο Φράνκι» απέναντι στη Φιορεντίνα.

Με γκολ του Χαβιέρ Σαβιόλα η Βερόνα, που είχε βασικούς όλους τους Έλληνες διεθνείς (Μόρας, Ταχτσίδης, Χριστοδουλόπουλος), νίκησε την Αταλάντα 1-0, ενώ η Ίντερ του Ρομπέρτο Μαντσίνι έχασε στο «Τζουζέπε Μεάτσα» από την Τορίνο 1-0.

Τα αποτελέσματα και οι σκόρερ:

Κάλιαρι-Σασουόλο 2-1
(20΄ Ροσετίνι, 79΄ Κοπ – 77΄ αυτ. Ροσετίνι)

Λάτσιο-Μίλαν 3-1
(47΄, 81΄ Παρόλο, 51΄ Κλόζε – 4΄ Μενέζ)

Βερόνα-Αταλάντα 1-0
(53΄ Σαβιόλα)

Ίντερ-Τορίνο 0-1
(90΄+ Μορέτι)

Γιουβέντους-Κιέβο 2-0
(60΄ Πογκμπά, 74΄ Λιχστάινερ)

Πάρμα-Τσεζένα 1-2
(76΄ αυτ. Κασόνε – 21΄ Πουλτσέτι, 90΄ Ροντρίγκες)

Σαμπντόρια-Παλέρμο 1-1
(6΄ Έντερ – 49΄ Βάσκεθ)

Φιορεντίνα-Ρόμα 1-1
(Γκόμεζ 19′ – Λιάλιτς 49′)

Έμπολι-Ουντινέζε 26/1

Νάπολι-Τζένοα 26/1

ΒΑΘΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ
(σε 20 αγώνες)

Γιουβέντους 49

Ρόμα 42

Λάτσιο 34

Σαμπντόρια 34

Νάπολι 33 -19αγ.

Φιορεντίνα 31

Τζένοα 28 -19αγ.

Παλέρμο 27

Μίλαν 26

Ίντερ 26

Τορίνο 25

Σασουόλο 25

Ουντινέζε 24 -19αγ.

Βερόνα 24

Αταλάντα 20

Έμπολι 19 -19αγ.

Κάλιαρι 19

Κιέβο 18

Τσεζένα 12

Πάρμα 9

Πηγή: in.gr

Στους 16 του Κυπέλλου Αγγλίας προκρίθηκαν και οι τρεις ομάδες της Πρέμιερ Λιγκ, οι οποίες ρίχτηκαν στη μάχη την Κυριακή, μία ημέρα μετά το απίστευτο «κάζο» που υπέστησαν οι Τσέλσι, Σίτι και Τότεναμ από ομάδες χαμηλότερων κατηγοριών.

Πιο συγκεκριμένα, η Άρσεναλ επιβλήθηκε εκτός έδρας με 3-2 της Μπράιτον και πήρε το εισιτήριο για την επόμενη φάση του FA Cup, στην οποία θα βρεθούν ακόμα οι Άστον Βίλα (νίκησε 2-1 την Μπόρνμουθ) και Γουέστ Χαμ (επικράτησε με 1-0 της Μπρίστολ Σίτι).

Τα αποτελέσματα της φάσης των «32» του FA Cup:

Παρασκευή
Κέμπριτζ – Μάντσεστερ Γιουνάιτεντ 0-0

Σάββατο
Μπλάκμπερν – Σουόνσι 3-1 (23′ Τέιλορ, 78′ Ζεστέντ, 89′ Κόνγουεϊ / 21′ Σίγκουρντσον)
Σαουθάμπτον – Κρίσταλ Πάλας 2-3 (9′ Γκρατσιάνο Πελέ, 16′ αυτ. Σκοτ Νταν / 11′ και 39′ Σαμάκ, 21′ Σανογκό)
Τότεναμ – Λέστερ 1-2 (19′ πέν. Τάουνσεντ / 83′ Ουγιόα, 90′ Σλουπ)
Μπέρμιγχαμ – Γουέστ Μπρομ 1-2 (45′ Γκράουντς / 25′ και 35′ Ανιτσέμπε)
Πρέστον – Σέφιλντ Γιουνάιτεντ 1-1 (19′ Γκάλαχερ / 68′ Ντε Τζιρολάμο)
Σάντερλαντ – Φούλαμ 0-0
Μάντσεστερ Σίτι – Μίντλεσμπρο 0-2 (53′ Μπάνφορντ, 90′ Κίκε)
Κάρντιφ – Ρέντινγκ 1-2 (25′ Τζόουνς / 64′ Νόργουντ, 88′ Ρόμπσον-Κάνου)
Ντέρμπι Κάουντι – Τσέστερφιλντ 2-0 (20′ Ντάρεν Μπεντ, 82′ Χιουζ)
Τσέλσι – Μπράντφορντ 2-4 (21′ Κέιχιλ, 38′ Ραμίρες / 41′ Στιντ, 75′ Φιλίπε Μοράις, 82′ Χάλινταϊ, 90′ Γάιτς)
Λίβερπουλ – Μπόλτον 0-0

Κυριακή
Μπρίστολ Σίτι – Γουέστ Χαμ 0-1 (81′ Ντιαφρά Σακό)
Άστον Βίλα – Μπόρνμουθ 2-1 (51′ Κάρλες Χιλ, 71′ Βάιμαν / 93′ Γουίλσον)
Μπράιτον – Άρσεναλ 2-3 (50′ Ο’Γκρέιντι, 75′ Μπάλντοκ / 2′ Γουόλκοτ, 24′ Μεσούτ Εζίλ, 59′ Ροσίτσκι)

Δευτέρα
Ρότσντεϊλ – Στόουκ (22:00)

Πηγή:zougla.gr

I LOVE Australia because of the people and the passion they represent for our flag.

Whether it’s in everyday life or in the sporting arena.

It has a very proud multicultural melting pot of ethnic communities from all around the world.

The fresh produce, iconic landmarks, beaches … every state is a holiday destination.

In sport we wear our hearts on our sleeve and we have the never-say-die attitude that has resonated around the world due to our work ethic and sportsmanship.

I love Australia for the simple things in life like throwing a fishing line out, lighting up the barbecue and chilling with the family. These things represent a taste of Australia Day for me.

I have been lucky enough to wear the green and gold 80 times, playing around the world, and every time I sing the national anthem it makes me very proud of our country.

I have had some great moments in my life but I’ll never forget where I came from and being Australian means everything to me.

TIM CAHILL AND THE SOCCEROOS PLAY UAE TOMORROW IN THE ASIAN CUP SEMI-FINALS

source:heraldsun.com.au

Nick Kyrgios, the last Australian remaining in singles competition, has thrilled the Melbourne Park crowd with a five-set win over Italy’s Andreas Seppi to make the last eight.

Kyrgios looked irritable and out of touch as he went down two sets to love, then fought back to win 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 8-6 in his fourth-round match on Hisense Arena on Sunday night.

“It feels so good,” Kyrgios told Channel Seven.

“I knew he would have a lot of confidence, beating Roger [Federer], I just think drawing on my experiences, coming back against Richard Gasquet, I knew that I could do that. And the crowd was unbelievable.”

Games went on serve early in the match, but the Australian suddenly lost serve to love in the 11th game to hand Seppi the advantage.

The Italian, who caused the upset of the tournament when he beat Roger Federer in the third round, served out to win the opening set in 43 minutes – Kyrgios smashed his racket in frustration when he missed a chance to set up a break back.

Games again went on serve in the second set – although Kyrgios had Seppi at 15-40 in the fourth game before the Italian held.

The set looked likely to go to a tie-breaker before Kyrgios lost concentration to lose the 10th game, handing Seppi a two-set lead with a 6-4 scoreline.

With his Open hopes on the line, Kyrgios finally hit form, breaking in the second game and consolidating for 3-0 in the third set.

The Australian went on to win the set 6-3 to keep the match going.

The fourth set was a tense affair, and Kyrgios threw away a big opportunity when he challenged a Seppi groundstroke rather than play on at 0-30 on the Italian’s serve in the seventh game.

He lost the point, and Seppi went on to hold serve. Games then went with serve until 5-6 when Kyrgios – serving to stay in the match – double faulted when on game point to take the set to a tie-break.

He recovered with two straight aces to make it 6-6. Seppi netted a return on the opening point to go a mini-break down, but Kyrgios gave up the break two points later.

The Australian went ahead 3-2, then gave the break back the following point.

The next four points went on serve, Kyrgios then sent down an unplayable serve to go to set-point at 6-5, and the Australian followed up with a drilled backhand winner down the line to level the match after three minutes short of three hours.

Kyrgios rode the momentum, breaking his opponent in the second game of the final set.

He came under pressure on serve in the fifth game, before holding for a 4-1 lead.

However the Italian was not giving up, and he reeled off 12 straight points to seal the break and hold for 4-4.

The Australian appeared to be tiring, but he pulled two aces out in the ninth game to hold for 5-4.

For the first time Seppi had to serve to stay in the match, and the Italian was pressured into an error to go down 15-30 before holding for 5-5.

Kyrgios held to 15 to make it 6-5, then Seppi levelled it up again in the 12th game.

The Australian threw in a double fault at 30-15 in the following game, but he held in the end for 7-6.

Seppi netted a return off the opening point of the next game, and when he hit a forehand long, Kyrgios was two points from victory.

The Australian then found the corner with a cross-court backhand to set up three match points, and finally Seppi pushed an approach shot wide to give Kyrgios a dramatic win.

The win makes the 19-year-old Kyrgios the first teen since Roger Federer in 2001 to earn multiple quarter-final spots in grand slam tournaments.

He will play the winner of Britain’s Andy Murray and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the last eight.

source:abc.net.au

 Ο Μπρένταν Ρότζερς μίλησε για τον Μάριο Μπαλοτέλι και επεσήμανε ότι ο Ιταλός θα πρέπει να βοηθήσει σε συγκεκριμένους τομείς την Λίβερπουλ, αν επιθυμεί να είναι μέλος των «κόκκινων».

«Παρακολουθώ τον Μπαλοτέλι κάθε μέρα. Δεν έχει ιδιαίτερη αντιμετώπιση από τους υπόλοιπους παίκτες. Αν ένας παίκτης θέλει να προσφέρει στην ομάδα πρέπει να προσπαθεί κάθε μέρα στις προπονήσεις. Ο Μπαλοτέλί ξέρει ακριβώς τι πρέπει να κάνει. Έχουμε συζητήσει που χρειάζεται να βελτιωθεί για να είναι βασικός στην Λίβερπουλ.

Ξέρει το επίπεδο που βρίσκεται η Λίβερπουλ και τον τρόπο που πιέζουμε. Αν δεν μπορεί να το κάνει τότε δεν μπορεί να είναι μέρος της Λίβερπουλ και να συνεισφέρει όσο θέλουμε στην επίτευξη των στόχων της ομάδας. Ζητάμε περισσότερα από τον Μπαλοτέλι και είμαι σίγουρος ότι θα ανταποκριθεί σωστά», είπε ο προπονητής της Λίβερπουλ.

Πηγή:zougla.gr